-51- Clues

Later that day, Yvette saw a mechanical automaton coming to the sanctuary to pray, wishing to confide some problems to the god.

Sister Nun was currently transporting energy storage boxes to the warehouse, so she asked the automaton to wait a moment. It very cooperatively sat on a church chair, holding a blackish, longish object in its hand.

Full of curiosity about the act of prayer, yet wishing not to attract the attention of the Machine God, Yvette intended to watch from afar. However, upon seeing what the automaton was holding, she couldn't help walking over and asking, "What problem do you have? Could you tell me?"

"Oh? Are you that foreign traveler lady?" The automaton noticed Yvette's human-like appearance and immediately said in an astonished tone.

"Mhm, haven't you seen me before?"

"Indeed. When you and the other lady arrived earlier, I was conducting archaeological research and didn't make it in time." The automaton performed a bowing motion. "My name is 'Film Roll'. Pleased to meet you."

"I am Yvette Rochevieux," Yvette nodded in return.

This mechanical automaton named "Film Roll" was much like most of the machines in the village, resembling something excavated from the scrap metal mountain on Iron-Rust Avenue in the Blackwater District of Ish City. Its body lacked flexibility and was covered in traces of stitching, making its attempts at human-like movements—such as bending over to bow—look rather strenuous.

"Returning to your previous question, what I actually wanted to ask is what on earth this stick-like thing discovered in the ruins is." Film Roll showed Yvette the object in its hand. Although pitch black, Yvette could roughly tell what it was based on its structure.

This should be a toothbrush, and the material was most likely "fungal plastic"—an organic synthetic material developed by shed-skin organisms.

Film Roll continued, "Actually, I pretty much know what this is. But my neighbor, 'Fuzzball', insisted that this must be a human 'door key' used to unlock door locks. But I said, how could that be? Human door locks all have very small keyholes; how could such a large thing be shoved inside? Fuzzball insisted it could fit and almost broke the thing."

"Then what do you think this is?" Yvette asked.

"I guess this is definitely the legendary 'ear pick'! I've seen human portraits painted by an artist, and I noticed that the size of a human ear canal is just right to accommodate this thing being inserted! And look at this little stick, it has some fine hairs on it, right? It must be prepared for cleaning ears!"

A hint of triumph crept into Film Roll's tone. As if asking for credit, it inquired, "Well, Miss Yvette, don't you think my theory is much more correct than Fuzzball's?"

"A marvelous guess. I suppose the gods would stand on your side as well," Yvette couldn't help smiling, her gaze gentle.

"Right? Right?!" Film Roll was overjoyed. Then, seemingly mesmerized by Yvette's beautiful smile, it dazed for a moment before saying, "Speaking of which, Miss Yvette, your reputation precedes you. How do you manage to look so human? Um, if I may be so bold to ask, do you have any cultivation experience you could impart to me..."

During their conversation, Sister Nun had slowly approached.

Hearing the two of them, Sister Nun said to Film Roll, "You cannot do that, Mr. Film Roll. Have you forgotten? Cultivation requires personal enlightenment; relying on others to teach you means you will never become a true human."

"Ah, I forgot," Film Roll said blankly.

"Well then, I have opened the 'gateway'. You may go and pray to the god," Sister Nun said.

Following Sister Nun's gaze, Yvette looked at the shrine beneath the central cubic statue. At this moment, the shrine was in an activated state; two small metal doors parted to the left and right, revealing the tip of the iceberg of a mottled, antiquated machine inside.

Yvette stared at the object for a moment, roughly understanding what it was.

Good grief, a signal base station from several centuries ago. The fact that it could still function meant it must have received repair and maintenance.

At the same time, there were multi-functional cable ends beside the shrine. After physically connecting one of the data pipelines to itself, Film Roll immediately lowered its head, brought its hands together, and entered an immobile praying state, resembling a statue.

Five minutes later, the process concluded. Yvette hesitated for a moment, abandoning the idea of using her hacking abilities. While this would certainly allow her to trace the network to the location of the Machine God, it would also expose her own presence. Before she had a sufficient understanding of the mechanical race, she would not do anything to alert the enemy.

Then, watching Film Roll unplug the data cable from its body, Yvette asked, "How did the god answer you?"

"The god said this requires personal exploration..." Film Roll's tone remained filled with confusion. It pondered for a moment and looked doubtfully at the two people beside it. "Miss Yvette, Miss Sunflower, your cultivation realms are both higher than mine. Why do you think the god didn't answer me directly?"

"The god not telling you directly must have its profound meaning. Perhaps it hopes more that you focus on the process of seeking the answer, which is more precious than the result," Sister Nun thought for a moment and said.

"I see. As expected of a god," Film Roll immediately believed it.

I feel like the Machine God just couldn't be bothered to answer such a boring question... Yvette didn't think that way at all.

Perhaps because deep down inside she was still Li You, the crowdsourced delivery guy, the Machine God appearing in her mind at this moment resembled a weary online customer service representative who had to deal with various dim-witted questions every day.

It seems being a god isn't all that easy either...

...

In the evening, lights illuminated the automaton town, giving it quite a vibrant, bustling atmosphere of human life.

As Yvette was preparing to wander around other areas, she saw the automaton girl Ice Rain—who had short ice-blue hair and an exquisite, cute face—emerge from a nearby alley. Panting, she said, "Hey, kind lady, why are you here? You made me search for you for ages."

Watching Ice Rain's panting movements, Yvette strongly suspected this was part of human cultivation, then asked, "What's the matter?"

"The Grand Elder has invited us to his place for dinner," Ice Rain said.

Yvette immediately thought of that cup of tea brewed with moldy leaves and dirty water at the container apartment earlier in the day.

Yet, in the end, she didn't refuse, because she actually had something she wanted to entrust to the Grand Elder for help with at this moment.

After a short while, arriving at the container apartment and entering the container belonging to the Grand Elder, Yvette saw that the table had already been set. There were several dishes on the table, unexpectedly containing quite a few berries. Some were obviously spoiled, but others looked as though they had been freshly picked today.

However, for mechanical automatons, this certainly wasn't the staple food. Therefore, after glancing over them, Yvette spotted the energy storage box hidden beneath the small table, roughly grasping the Grand Elder's intentions.

Charging with magic guidance lines beneath the table while simulating human dining on top—satisfying both material and spiritual needs at once.

Once seated, midway through the "meal," Yvette suddenly asked, "Grand Elder, may I ask you a question?"

"Miss Yvette, please ask whatever you wish. This old fellow knows everything and will share it," the Grand Elder replied immediately.

"In the past one or two centuries, have you ever seen a blonde girl?" Yvette asked.

Through several conversations, she had already learned that the Grand Elder had awakened in some ruins about 170 years ago.

It initially lived in the Black Tide Kingdom of the Silver Mirror Continent. Having lived in a daze for 120 years, it suddenly had the whim to venture out into the vast world filled with aberrant creatures—dangerous yet mysterious—much like Ice Rain was doing now.

After all, unlike the three major kingdoms of Firmament, Cinder-Scar, and Riftsky, among the four nations, only the Black Tide Kingdom originated from the Black Tide Continent, later relocating its mother kingdom to the Silver Mirror Continent due to an oracle. Therefore, compared to other kingdoms, the citizens of the Black Tide Kingdom possessed a stronger desire to travel abroad.

Thus, the young Grand Elder set off, carrying simple self-defense weapons and using the sparsely distributed kingdoms across the three continents as safety checkpoints.

It traveled north and south for over twenty years, from the Silver Mirror Continent to the Emerald Continent, and finally returned to its ancestral land, the Black Tide Continent, establishing the current Akasha branch of the Black Tide Kingdom.

With such a long life experience, Yvette thought that if Rosaline had ever returned to the Land of Demise, the Grand Elder might have heard something about it.

"A blonde girl?" the Grand Elder said, perplexed. "Speaking of blonde girls, this old fellow has indeed seen a few in my lifetime. I wonder which one Miss Yvette is inquiring about?"

Yvette thought for a moment and produced a portrait. This was a memory projection created using spellcasting techniques, basically indistinguishable from a photograph. It depicted Rosaline at the age of 22, wearing mage robes and already looking like a gorgeous blonde woman of striking maturity.

"Have you seen this girl?"

"Hiss... Such a strong human aura! Her cultivation realm must also be very high, right? What is her name?" the Grand Elder praised. Ice Rain, glancing over from the side, immediately wore a look of astonishment as well, joining in by drawing a sharp breath.

"Her name is Rosaline Sienne, my student," Yvette said.

"So she is your student. No wonder her cultivation realm looks so high, cut from the same cloth as you." The Grand Elder stroked a nonexistent beard, shook its head, and said, "I certainly haven't seen such a member of the machine race. Because if I had seen her, I would definitely have a deep impression."

"Is that so..." Yvette sighed in disappointment.

Just at that moment, however, Ice Rain raised her hand and cautiously said, "Uhm... I think I might have seen her..."